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Faith Hope and Love

Day: January 19, 2016

“When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come!’ And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. The horseman on it was named Death, and Hades was following after him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.” Revelation 6:7-8

John looked, and there was a pale green horse. This yellowish green color would describe the paleness of the dead. It probably refers to the death brought by pestilence, or plague, which often follows famine (as suggested from the 3rd seal). The growth of intensity in the judgments goes from the sword, to famine, to plague, and now to the wild beasts of the earth. (Some similarities are seen in Jeremiah 14:12, Ezekiel 5:17, 14:21, Luke 21:11.)

Will you join me in prayerfully considering an application of this verse in our lives? Please comment if you discern other applications! There are many.

I have always been perplexed to see adults purchasing and children playing with dolls of this color. It is a ‘monster’ theme and the dolls I suppose were cute in every respect except their pale green skin color. I imagine it is the same idea of parents giving their children ‘cute’ dolls to play with that look like witches. These items are marketed to appear innocent, cute, and harmless. It would be a difficult sale if the monsters and witches were ugly and scary but does it really change the meaning? Let’s discern and be diligent about what we are purchasing and bringing into our households. While we are at it let’s also consider the Monster drink. A friend showed me a video (I have included the title if you care to view it) that outlines research someone did on the drink. (YouTube: MONSTER Energy drinks are the work of SATAN) Whether you agree or not, our goal is to discern what is put before our eyes.

In the midst of all this I love Revelation 5:10, “You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Expositors explains it beautifully. “The Lamb’s right to open the scroll rests also on his having made the ransomed into a ‘kingdom’ and his making them ‘priests’ to serve God in praise. Christians ‘will reign on the earth’ with Christ because they have been given kingly authority through his death. While not excluding the present reign of believers, the reference to ‘the earth’ is best taken to refer to the future eschatological kingdom reign of Christ.” We will reign in the future but we also reign in the present. If not, Jesus would have completed His mission on the cross and our time under the sun would have been over. That was not the divine plan. We were to remain here on earth to live in POWER and REIGN over every form of ungodliness. As we experience this season of foundational shaking we are purposed to live NOTHING LESS than a victoriously powerful life by being in full submission to Jesus Christ.

Let’s prayerfully consider this verse in light of reading the Seals of Revelation. Abraham is speaking to the LORD as the LORD has brought Abraham into his counsel regarding the destruction of Sodom. Abraham asks, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? (Genesis 18:23) He speaks again in verse 25, “You could not possibly do such a thing; to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possible do that! Won’t the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). His thinking is the same, His emotions are the same, His priorities are the same, and His love is the same. The LORD is sovereign (1 Tim. 6:15). Let’s consider the righteous and the wicked. The righteous’ ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God, and who therefore need no rectification in the heart or life. They are in ‘right standing’ with God. The wicked are evil or morally bad in principle or practice, sinful, malicious, spiteful, ill-natured, and iniquitous. We can not control events but we can control whether we are righteous or wicked. In Revelation 16:5 the Lord is referred to as “righteous, who is and who was, the Holy One, for You have decided these things.” Indeed He has. Thank you Judge of all the earth for considering Your possession during these times. We gladly choose to keep our feet on the path of righteousness.